Andre Blaby

JERSEY’S judo team has been hit hard by injury – so much so that their entry into tomorrow’s team event could be in jeopardy.

Following André Blaby’s shoulder problem, which is believed to be tendon damage, Alan Baudain was forced to retire from Sunday night’s last contest through injury, which leaves a much-weakened side.

Team member Mike Bisson said: ‘The team is falling apart! We have spoken about whether or not we should enter the team competition on Wednesday, because now we have a weaker team, but I think we will end up putting a team in.’

The squad failed to make the finals yesterday for the second day running, but Bisson said the team was aware that competition would be strong.

He said: ‘Two contests were actually very close to making the finals, and Keiron Lambert just fell short. It’s pretty much what we expected, it’s very high quality.

There is some excellent judo all round. We’re just unfortunate we’ve been struck by injury, but that’s judo, and you know what you’re letting yourself in for.’